Questionable Judges Decision At Mohawk

[Sea Biscuit]

In the 5th race on June 9 at Mohawk.

YouTube

Me thinks the trotting colt Heavens Pic should have been DQed for gaining an unfair advantage by running in the stretch. Clearly he would have lost the race had he been trotting.


What do you think?

[Sea Biscuit]

Here are the remarks of the judges for the race in question.


"Race 5 Judges inquiry regarding the break by #9 Heavens Pic in the stretch. He
does not violate any of the breaking rules and therefore no placing (finished 1st)"

[Bogo]

I guess by the letter of the law results stand. But my problem is the lack of consistency from track to track. I know there was a race at Meadowlands where David Miller finished 3rd doing the same exact thing with no other horses except the two that passed him within 5 lengths. They placed him out of the money.

[Sea Biscuit]

125 Reads with just one reply

[wilderness]

SB,
Think the original rule (for decades) reads 1 1/2 lengths.

[lamboguy]

he wasn't lapped on

[Bustin Stones]

The way the ruling reads that as long as the driver is deemed to make an honest effort to rein in the breaking horse and no other horse is within a length of that horse, there's no change in placement. In theory, a horse could be off stride for the final quarter and still win as long as those rules are followed.

[Augie16]

What about failure to lose ground while on a break?

[Bogo]

Interesting race 7 Wednesday the 15th at Hoosier. Dover in Motion is about to win and breaks a little bit before the wire but appears to lose ground and is not lapped on. Somehow the horse is placed 3rd. Someone check out the replay and let me know how the horse is placed where he is.

[Sea Biscuit]

Originally Posted by Bogo

Interesting race 7 Wednesday the 15th at Hoosier. Dover in Motion is about to win and breaks a little bit before the wire but appears to lose ground and is not lapped on. Somehow the horse is placed 3rd. Someone check out the replay and let me know how the horse is placed where he is.

June 30, 2022 Race 2

YouTube

Similar situation of a horse breaking in the stretch while leading in the race. The driver James Macdonald does the right thing by taking the horse to the outside and pulling his horse while two other horses pass him by and the subject horse Carter Michael Deo the favorite in the race ends up third. The 4th horse is lengths away so the question of him being lapped upon simply does not arise.


Yet the judges in their best wisdom decide to DQ the horse and placed him last from 3rd.


The reason as contained in the AQCO report of June 30


Race 2- Inquiry- #7 “Carter Michael Deo” (J MacDonald) finished 3rdplaced 7thfor being offstride for more than 25 strides (extended break)


I am totally